On Virtue: An Analysis of Virtue in Philosophy and Religion

Source.

I became interested in writing about virtue after listening to a philosophy podcast on Socrates and virtue. Socrates used to go around town asking people what virtue is in a never ending search for its true meaning while simultaneously helping his fellow citizens understand that they didn’t understand virtue at all. Hearing this made me think about virtue and whether or not I understand it. In order to understand virtue I'm turning to the two fields that specialize in it, that of philosophy and religion. First, I will create a list of the preeminent virtues of both institutions and second, I will figure out what said virtues mean to me. I hope that by writing about these virtues I will better understand them and bring me closer to an understanding of virtue.

The word philosophy literally translates to "the love of wisdom" so we know right off the bat that philosophy finds wisdom to be a preeminent virtue. Virtue was a big focus for Greek philosophy so the Stoic cardinal virtues and Aristotle's virtues are clearly delineated. Otherwise, philosophy has surprisingly little on what specific virtues are paramount. As opposed to looking up specific philosophers I decided to go with ethical frameworks and what virtues they encourage. In order to group them easier I will include my interpretation of the principle or virtue in parenthesis.

Just a couple notes on my process of labeling virtues before continuing.

• Love: Love includes things like compassion, generosity, etc.

• Respect: Includes the golden rule, getting along, etc.

• Love vs. Respect: I decided to keep these separate as a person can respect someone without loving them even though pure love demands respect. Kindness can go either way so I opted for it to go more secular with philosophy via respect while it's more representative of love in religion.

• Faithful: I regarded this as either being faithful to God or true to oneself (internal authenticity or divinity) in integrity, duty, responsibility, motivations, desires, etc.

• Strength: I decided to keep this separate from faithful because you can be faithful to yourself or God but be secretive or timid about it. Strength is the virtue of doing it openly.

• Humility: This includes non-attachment, non-possessiveness, gratitude, modesty, etc.

• Justice: Non-judgmental, impartial, fair, etc.

Philosophy

Here is a list of the virtues in philosophy as far as I, and Google, understand them:

1. Utilitarianism - Greatest good for the greatest amount of people.

   1. Moderate Altruism (Love)

   2. Moral Expansiveness (Justice)

   3. Effectiveness Focus (Wisdom)

   4. Truth-Seeking (Truth)

   5. Collaborativeness (Respect)

   6. Determination (Faithful - to self and interests)

2. Deontology - Acting morally according to duty, rules, and obligations.

   1. Golden rule/ Kantian ethics (Respect)

   2. Fairness (Justice)

   3. Faithful - True to self, fulfilling personal responsibilities.

   4. Truth

   5. Strength - Courage to do what's right.

   6. Self-Control

3. Virtue Ethics - Focus on character rather than consequences.

   1. Stoic Cardinal Virtues

      1. Prudence (Wisdom)

      2. Fortitude (Strength)

      3. Justice

      4. Temperance (Self-Control)

   2. Aristotle - Aristotle has 12 core virtues but some don't make much sense to include namely magnificence, magnanimity, ambition, and wittiness.

      1. Courage (Strength)

      2. Temperance (Self-Control)

      3. Liberality (Generosity = Love or Justice)

      4. Patience

      5. Truthfulness (Truth)

      6. Friendliness (Respect)

      7. Modesty (Humility)

      8. Justice

4. Right-Based Ethics - Everyone has fundamental rights that must be respected.

   1. Golden rule/ Kantian ethics (Respect)

   2. Justice

   3. Faithful - True to self, fulfilling personal responsibilities.

   4. Truth

   5. Strength - Courage to do what's right.

   6. Self-Control

5. Care Ethics - Decision making based on compassion and understanding.

   1. Love

   2. Integrity (Faithful)

   3. Respect

   4. Strength

   5. Truth

   6. Humility

   7. Patience

6. Social Contract Theory - Contract between rulers and the ruled for basic societal needs such as order and protection.

   1. Justice

   2. Truth

   3. Faithful

   4. Respect

Based on these interpretations the preeminent virtues according to philosophy are as follows:

1. Respect (6)

2. Truth (6)

3. Justice (5)

4. Faithful (5)

5. Strength (4)

6. Self-Control (3)

7. Love (3)

8. Wisdom (2) (Unexpected!)

9. Humility (2)

10. Patience (2)

Source.

Religion

Many religions have their short list of preeminent virtues. I looked up the main religions of the world and their virtues and compared them with this list created by a separate author. Here is what I found:

1. Christianity - Based on the definition of love found in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (two great commandments are love God and others), the beatitudes found in Matthew 5:1-12, and the fruits of the spirit in Galatians 5:22-23.

   1. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

      1. Patient

      2. Kind (Love)

      3. Humility

      4. Without Anger (Patience)

      5. Forgiving (Love)

      6. Respect

      7. Truth

      8. Endurance (Strength)

   2. Matthew 5:1-12

      1. Poor in Spirit (Humility)

      2. Mourn (Love)

      3. Meek (Patience)

      4. Righteousness (Faithful)

      5. Merciful (Love)

      6. Pure in Heart (Faithful)

      7. Peacemakers (Peace)

      8. Persecuted for Righteousness (Strength)

   3. Galatians 5:22-23

      1. Love

      2. Joy (Peace)

      3. Peace

      4. Patience

      5. Kindness (Love)

      6. Goodness (Love)

      7. Faithfulness

      8. Gentleness (Love)

      9. Self-control

   4. Summarized

      1. Love

      2. Self-Control

      3. Humility

      4. Respect

      5. Truth

      6. Faithful

      7. Strength

      8. Peace

      9. Patience

2. Muslim

   1. Honesty (Truth)

   2. Justice

   3. Patience

   4. Compassion, Kindness, Forgiveness, Charity (Love)

   5. Respect

   6. Wisdom

   7. Strength

   8. Faithful

   9. Peace

3. Hinduism - 5 Principles of Hinduism and 3 Ethical Pillars.

   1. 5 Principles

      1. Non-Violence (Love)

      2. Truthfulness

      3. Non-Stealing (Respect)

      4. Chastity (Self-Control)

      5. Non-Possessiveness (Humility)

   2. 3 Ethical Pillars

      1. Non-Violence (Love)

      2. Righteousness (Strength)

      3. Wisdom

4. Buddhism - Six Perfections.

   1. Generosity (Love)

   2. Morality (Respect)

   3. Patience

   4. Vigor (Faithful - to self and desires)

   5. Concentration (Faithful)

   6. Wisdom

5. Confucianism - Five Constant Virtues.

   1. Benevolence (Love)

   2. Righteousness (Strength)

   3. Propriety (Respect)

   4. Wisdom

   5. Trustworthiness (Faithful and Truth)

6. Taoist - Three Treasures and those in the Wuzhen pian.

   1. Three Treasures

      1. Compassion (Love)

      2. Moderation (Self-Control)

      3. Humility

   2. Wuzhen pian

      1. Compassion (Love)

      2. Justice

      3. Courtesy (Respect)

      4. Knowledge (Wisdom)

      5. Truthfulness - All other values rest on truth.

   3. Summarized

      1. Love

      2. Self-Control

      3. Humility

      4. Justice

      5. Respect

      6. Wisdom

      7. Truth

7. Judaism

   1. Loving-Kindness (Love)

   2. Righteous Giving (Love)

   3. Repairing the World (Justice or Love)

   4. Preserving Life (Respect)

   5. Everyone is made in the Image of God (Respect)

   6. Faith

   7. Truth

   8. Humility

   9. Justice

   10. Peace

8. Sikhism - 5 Virtues.

   1. Truth

   2. Contentment (Peace)

   3. Compassion (Love)

   4. Humility

   5. Love

9. Jainism - 5 Vows and 10 Cardinal Virtues.

   1. 5 Vows

      1. Non-Violence (Love)

      2. Truthfulness

      3. Non-Stealing (Respect)

      4. Celibacy (Self-Control)

      5. Non-Attachment (Humility)

   2. 10 Cardinal Virtues

      1. Forgiveness (Love)

      2. Humility

      3. Straightforwardness (Truth)

      4. Truthfulness (Truth)

      5. Purity (Humility - it's about not being greedy)

      6. Self-Restraint (Self-Control)

      7. Penance (Self-Control)

      8. Renunciation (Love and Strength)

      9. Non-Possessiveness (Humility)

      10. Celibacy (Self-Control)

   3. Summarized

      1. Love

      2. Truth

      3. Respect

      4. Self-Control

      5. Humility

      6. Strength

10. Shinto

    1. Purity (Faithfulness)

    2. Sincerity (Truth and Faithful)

    3. Loyalty and Duty (Faithful)

    4. Respect for Nature (Respect)

    5. Harmony (Peace and Respect)

    6. Gratitude (Humility)

Based on these interpretations the preeminent virtues according to religion are as follows:

1. Love (9)

2. Respect (9)

3. Truth (9)

4. Humility (7)

5. Faithful (6)

6. Strength (5)

7. Wisdom (5)

8. Self-Control (4)

9. Peace (5)

10. Justice (3)

11. Patience (3)

And here is both of them compared side by side and reordered according to their cumulative preeminent virtues:

I had to redo chart this 11 times.

The 11 preeminent virtues of philosophy and religion are truth, respect, love, faithful, humility, strength, justice, wisdom, self-control, patience, and peace. While my general categories for different virtues seek to simplify them to general patterns, I believe that similar analysis would yield synonymous results with slight variations. Regardless, for me these are the 11 virtues to aspire to and explore.

Truth

This whole post started with thinking about the relationship between truth and being wrong, which was initially going to be what I wrote about until it became larger in scope. Taoism believes that all virtues hinge on truth, an assertion I think I agree with. In the book People of the Lie by Scott Peck he summarizes evil as stemming from two core issues: 1) an inability or unwillingness to tolerate pain and discomfort and 2) laziness. The inability or unwillingness to tolerate pain and discomfort directly relates to our discussion on truth. An inability or refusal to acknowledge and accept the truth directly prevents the development of any of the other virtues.

While Jack Nicholson said this iconic line in a movie, I fear that it may have much more relevant implications than we would like to admit to ourselves. People run from the truth all the time. People run from the truth that they have flaws and that they can fix them. They run from acknowledging the damage they cause others and themselves. They run from the truth about how cherished relationships in their lives are catastrophically unhealthy preferring to live with them rather than live without them. They run from facts that don't align with their preconceived notions and preferred paradigms. They turn a blind eye to uncomfortable realities. As a species we are far more inclined psychologically to run from truth than accept it.

This has been seen throughout history. Scientists across millennia have been ridiculed, isolated, and killed for speaking scientific truth. Prophets or saints have been treated similarly, including Jesus, for speaking moral truth. Arthur Schopenhauer, a famous philosopher, says that all truth must go through three stages: 1) ridicule, 2) violence, and 3) acceptance as self-evident. In other words, in order for any truth to become self-evident, to be widely accepted as truth, it is first ridiculed by society and then violently opposed by it. Only after physical violence do humans accept truth. Humanity does not like truth.

Unfortunately a problem that refuses to be acknowledged is one that is also impossible to fix. One of my favorite metaphors to use is that of a flat tire. You can deny that you have a flat tire and drive around on it, but it slows you down considerably and eventually destroys the car. It is only in recognizing that there is a problem and fixing it that the car's normal functioning can be restored. We are no different in this regard. In order for the development of virtue to even be a possibility there has to be a recognition that improvement can be made. In order to accept that we can improve we have to accept the truth that we are already in the wrong somehow. The flat tire in this metaphor is the acknowledgment of where we are broken and need fixing yet the concept of not being perfect is somehow threatening to most people, unlike the more neutral acknowledgment of having a flat tire.

Ironically, the intention of seeking truth presupposes that we don't have it, meaning that we are inadvertently acknowledging the wrongness of our present perspective as truth seekers. I think most people would call themselves truth seekers, because to do otherwise is not looked highly upon, but I don't think people fully realize that truth seeking comes with the structural foundation of already being wrong. Instead, they run from being wrong as if being wrong wasn't an inescapable part of being human and imperfect, or an intrinsic part of there being truth we don't currently have. Even worse, we deride people who do change their minds, calling them flip-floppers and other derogatory terms to try and coerce them into inflexible and uncritical minds instead of praising them for trying to be less wrong. If this action isn't a mirror into our society and how we view truth, I don't know what is. Most people would prefer to be "right" and sit comfortably in their intentional blindness than to be accurate, both for the discomfort of needing to recalibrate into a new belief system and the laziness over the emotional work required to do so.

Another irony is that we praise people who do change their beliefs based on accuracy when it comes to certain things. When a KKK member chooses to leave the organization, they are held in high esteem by society. When a gang member chooses to leave the organization, they are held in high esteem by society. When a cult member chooses to leave the organization, they are held in high esteem by society. So when someone from outlier belief systems comes into the fold of normative beliefs, they are accepted and praised. When the opposite occurs, they are ridiculed, even when the societally contrarian beliefs are evidence-based and aren't harmful to others such as supporting drug legalization, believing in past lives, and going against capitalist tradition.

It's for these reasons that I believe truth is required for virtue development. If we are perfect in being and understanding, having and living the full truth, there is no need for further development. Avoiding or not acknowledging truth because of the cognitive and emotional moral requirements that it carries prevents development of any sort, even if that development is as minimal as being less wrong than we were before.

The virtue of truth, therefore, is rooted in non-attachment to our current beliefs and ideologies because we recognize that any aspect of them could be, and likely is, wrong. That which is incorrect is corrected unequivocally even if the process of doing so is inordinately painful. A broken bone needs to be reset no matter how painful it may be. A person who has the virtue of truth does not run from painful realignments but instead runs towards them. Even the idea of a painful realignment is immaterial and nonsensical because a genuine truth seeker rejoices in the truth and has already fully accepted the possibility of being wrong in all things. A person with the virtue of truth does not find truth to be painful because there is nothing about truth that causes pain. Pain is not found in truth, it is found in the recognition of how we were lying to ourselves and our own consequent disillusionment, the energy and time spent in our dedication to maintaining that lie, and the impact living that lie had on ourself and others. Truth frees us from pain while clinging to convenient lies only adds to or maintains it.

Truth is a commitment to accepting reality.

Respect

Respect is being honorable, for if you leave an interaction and were honorable, then you acted in a way that is honest, fair, and worthy of admiration. There is a difference between being honorable and acting honorably, namely one is done without thinking and the other must be intentionally and consciously done. Virtuous respect is being honorable towards other living things without thought of doing or being otherwise meaning that it is given freely, does not need to be earned, and is not retracted if it isn't reciprocated.

Respect must include other living thing besides humans which is easily proven by considering a simple example. If a person treats everyone impeccably but tortures animals for fun or dumps poisonous chemicals on plants and trees just to see them wither and die, that person would not deserve the title of being virtuously respectful. Respect is given to all life due to the simple fact of it having the same right to exist as you do. You don't have to love what you respect, you just have to be honorable in relation to it. I think this is why many religions choose to treat all life as sacred, it's an understanding of virtuous respect.

Another way of conceptualizing respect is to act as if you would with the virtue of love, but without the love being present. It's for this reason that I believe that love as a virtue is more important that respect because the virtue of love is intrinsically respectful. Regardless, virtuous respect is sufficient to completely resolve most problems we currently face as a global society, which is likely why it's regarded as higher than love. Respect is easier than love and accomplishes much of the same outcomes.

Source.

Love

Love is one of the 5 core similarities all religions/ practices hold in common as I wrote about here. I feel like of all the listed virtues, this one is the one I've thought about the most as I consider it the foundation of my career. As a therapist and healer I've realized that healing really is as simple ("simple") as helping people learn to love themselves. Even a lack of love for others seems to stem from a lack of love for oneself. In addition to my career I have a personal obsession with healing. Once I realized that I didn't need to feel negative emotions and that all it took was resolving the core problem within myself, a lack of self love, I was hooked. My personal obsession with healing and engagement in my profession has allowed me to deeply question what love is on both an individual and societal level at a frequency and depth that most people will unfortunately never encounter or engage with.

When love is thought about as a virtue it must be absolute as it is an embodiment. Unconditional love is exactly what it says, without any condition, an absolute. In our world we are most familiar with conditional love, a different kind of absolute. Conditional love is cutting off love based on personal absolutes, subjective boundaries that cannot be breached in order for a relationship to continue harmoniously on your end of things, harmoniously being the key word. The reason that I included "on your end of things" is because you can't control others' reactions, so the gauge has to be individually based. In other words, unconditional love is the absence of personal absolutes, otherwise understood as a non-attachment to the person being any particular way, which results in internal harmony. It's love without expectations allowing for internal harmony no matter the circumstance. Yikes.

I think most people can't even wrap their head around the concept of loving unconditionally, both for themselves and others, or maybe they just don't want to because its implications are scary. Forgive myself for anything? Sounds irresponsible and wrong. Forgive anyone for anything? Sounds like getting walked all over and taken advantage of... unless forgiveness and boundaries can co-exist, which they do. Unconditional love means unconditional forgiveness, but love for oneself necessitates appropriate boundaries, even with those you love, should they choose to impinge upon your rights. Yet, while conditional love finds offense in its conditions not being met, unconditional love does not. Where conditional love experiences anger, irritation, suffering, disdain, retribution, stonewalling, disappointment, coercion, abuse, and other negative responses, unconditional love experiences none of them. Unconditional love finds happiness and peace in allowing others (or the self) to follow their chosen path, even when that path is likely negative or harmful, without judgment and with compassion, empathy, and understanding. Boundaries, when set with unconditional love, follow this basic rule.

So what is the primary difference between conditional and unconditional love? What creates the negative responses inherent in conditional love? The difference between conditional and unconditional love is the need for control: control of self, others, or life in general.

"People who can't control themselves control the people around them."

David Schnarch, Intimacy and Desire

"I'll love you as long as..." is the mantra of conditional love, a clause of control that a person tries to assert on a person via the threat of a dissolved relationship, including a dissolved relationship with oneself. Many of these covert controls are so engrained in our society that they are operationally invisible, cultural norms that go unquestioned and are societally sanctioned, yet they are based in control nonetheless. Another way of interpreting conditional loves' mantra is "I don't want to be hurt or be uncomfortable, therefore you (I) need to...". It's an avoidance of personal responsibility by placing one's emotional responses as outside of one's control.

Unconditional love can only be achieved by recognizing the only truth when it comes to control: you can only control yourself, and even that is challenging. Unconditional love doesn't start from the outside in, controlling others in order to feel okay, it starts from the inside and expands out, becoming okay no matter what so that you don't need to control anyone or anything. We are all just hurt people needing to heal ourselves and healing oneself allows us to see this much more clearly which leads to increased love for the self and others.

I love the description of love found in 1 Corinthians 13 because it's so simple yet profound. Love is patient, kind, humble, without anger or offense, forgiving, respectful, and is truth seeking and it does all of this without exception. The moment it encounters an exception, unconditional love is no longer identifiable as unconditional. Here's some elaboration of what the lack of unconditional love looks like in real world application. They should seem very familiar because our world currently experiences the lack of it everywhere.

• Lack of Patience - anger or irritation at: inefficiency, incompetence, things not going fast enough, traffic, slow growth, lack of awareness, mistakes, inconveniences, pet peeves, unmet expectations, etc.

• Lack of Kindness - rudeness, inconsiderateness, lack of empathy, only caring for self or chosen community, dogmatism, greed, elitism, prejudice, racism, sexism, lack of compassion, criticism, gossiping, seeking retribution, being judgmental, using people as objects, taking advantage of others, etc.

• Lack of Humility - needing to be right, dogmatism, excessive lifestyles, hoarding wealth, refusal to acknowledge personal wrong doing, blaming others for problems, ungrateful, entitled, perfectionism (odd one to have in here but does a humble person acknowledge and accept that mistakes will be made or the opposite?), boasting, arrogance, narcissism, in group and out group, etc.

• Lack of Inner Peace (Anger/Offense) - anger problems, blaming others, impulsivity, aggression, war, emotional outbursts, yelling, road rage, broken relationships, scapegoating, prejudice, not listening, self-hatred, etc.

• Lack of Forgiving - grudges, enemies, hatred, revenge, normal marital sadism, need for reciprocity, shame, self-flagellation, not accepting apologies, not allowing people to change, etc.

• Lack of Respect - All of what is listed in these other categories.

• Lack of Truth Seeking - not seeking understanding, lack of curiosity, lack of trust, dismissing ideas without consideration, confusion, complacency, distraction, not seeking knowledge or wisdom, dogmatism, black or white thinking, not owning up to internal faults and flaws, shame from overemphasizing faults/flaws and mistakes, etc.

A world founded on unconditional love would theoretically resolve all of this list. Doesn't seem too scary when one realizes the cost of not doing it, or at least that's how I think about it.

It's always easier to define what something isn't than what it is. Using the same criteria I'm going to try identify what unconditional love is. If love is unconditional, then what it's comprised of must also be unconditional. Quick side note, a lack of anger is not necessarily inner peace, but I believe that's the closest summary. I think it is very possible that unconditionally not experiencing anger doesn't preclude the idea of other emotions being present that we would typically refer to as distressing such as sadness.

• Unconditional Patience - Being at peace with the time something takes made possible by having zero expectations of speed, efficiency, or outcome. You go with the flow of reality and find peace in what is, whatever it is.

• Unconditional Kindness - Treating others in the way that their best self would like to be treated at all times without exception.

• Unconditional Humility - Seeing the value each person intrinsically has, a value that is equivalent to your own. A deep understanding that everyone is your equal.

• Unconditional Inner Peace - A commitment to be at peace in all things. This inner peace comes from not needing anyone to be or anything to go a specific way. This includes maintaining inner peace amidst the mistreatment of others although that peace may be mixed with sadness. Even so, you would be at peace with the sadness as well (which is possible).

• Unconditional Forgiveness - Instantaneous and unbridled forgiveness. Forgiving others or oneself the instant it's applicable even if it isn't recognized or asked for by the offender.

• Unconditional Respect - Treating others honorably in all circumstances.

• Unconditional Truth Seeking - Seeking the truth in all things without exception, bias, or judgment. Changing your mind the instant truth is made clear to align with the truth.

These virtues being unconditional make them much simpler in many ways, at least as an idea. Imagine how the world would be different if everyone exemplified these base virtues... but alas.

To sum it up, unconditional love is a harmony of virtues which may be singularly defined specifically as harmony found within yourself, a practice which allows these other virtues to take place. Such a practice would theoretically result in harmony with yourself, harmony with others, and harmony with life. You can't control others and attempts to result in disharmony. You only have control over yourself, so if you want the world to be different, start by finding the harmony within.

Source.

Faithful

The virtue of being faithful is in regards to either an internal or external source. For those who externalize that source, being faithful is integrity to the ideals of that source, for example God and the beliefs of what God's ideals are. For those who internalize that force, being faithful is integrity to one's goals, desires, motivations, passions, thoughts, ideas, personality, instincts, and best or divine self. I would argue that being faithful to any divine being requires faithfulness to the self, otherwise you would've been created differently.

The virtue of being faithful is complete and total integrity to oneself regardless of where the integrity is directed to or sourced from. It is honoring oneself bound by congruent and effortless action as integrity without action isn't integrity. Is a person who believes in God but never reads the scriptures or lacks in other heavenly mandates virtuously faithful? I think not. Is a person who validates themselves in their mind but never acts on it virtuously faithful to themselves? Nah. Being faithful is unapologetically respecting and honoring the self by acting on its values and beliefs.

Faithfulness is the unconditional loving of the self.

Humility

Instead of humility being what much of the world would define as modest, but is more accurately described as a self-effacing view of the self, I believe that it's more about an honest accounting of one's value or importance: everyone is equally as valuable and as important as anyone else. Moreover, I believe it's non-attachment to anything that would challenge or subvert the foundation of equality. On the "better than" side, believing that you are valued above another human being, this includes but is not limited to:

• Status symbols - name brand items (Gucci, rolexes, Louis Vuitton, having the new Jordans, etc), expensive toys, cars, house or houses, elite clubs, luxury experiences and vacations, lack of debt, job title, private education, etc.

• Wealth hoarding - amount of money in your bank account, monetary assets, millionaire or billionaire status, etc.

• Societal milestones - getting your own place, home ownership, being married, having kids, retiring, college education, etc.

• Intelligence biases - education, comprehension abilities, working knowledge, IQ tests, Mensa, college and advanced degrees, memory, know-how, grammar, thought-through ideas, social intelligence, etc.

• Productivity and accomplishment biases - working long hours, not taking breaks, always being productive, impressive accomplishments, awards, inventions, contributions to society, parenting, etc.

• Social relationships - amount of friends or acquaintances, amount of close friends, amount of romantic relationships, number of sexual exploits, name dropping, being in the "cool" group, popularity, attendance of social functions, etc.

• Personal well-being - personal and environmental cleanliness, being organized, "having your shit together," being functional, timeliness, emotional healthiness, diet, exercise, body weight, personal hygiene, etc.

• Image - physical attractiveness, aesthetic taste, being trendy, making mistakes, legal record, being loved, social perception, ablism, etc.

• Prejudices - racism, sexism, agism, political identification, sports team identification, nationality, social status, everything listed above, etc.

Anything, mundane or not, that positions you as being "better" than someone else, for any reason, is a lack of humility. Other ways to phrase this include "more deserving than," "entitled to," etc.

On the other hand we have the "less than" category. You can view yourself as less than by the inverse of any of the items listed above. If you view yourself as "worse" than anyone else, "not as deserving," "not good enough for," etc. then you aren't embodying humility either.

For this reason I believe that humility is an honest accounting of one's value or importance. Honest does not mean bragging or arrogance as that indicates a need for being "better than" which stems from insecurity, not security. Honest also doesn't mean self-deprecation as that indicates a need to be "less than" which also stems from insecurity, not security. The virtue of humility is quiet. It needs no reassurance, no validation, no exposure, no acclaim, no disclaimer, no apology, no denial, no downplaying, nor any of the sort on either side of the spectrum. Humility is acknowledgement without judgment, the recognition that we are all human, that we are all important, and that we all make mistakes, some bigger than others.

Virtuous humility is radical acceptance of our shared humanity.

Strength

Strength is taking faithfulness and making it public when being public about it may be looked down upon. It's courage to live fearlessly in the public sphere with and for your values and beliefs. It's strength of inner conviction exemplified and championed. The virtue of strength should not be mixed in with strength by violence. Strength in this context is not brute force, it is measured by unyielding courage.

Strength in this context also relates to doing other things that are hard such as taking accountability, admitting wrongs, apologizing, showing one's feelings, and otherwise not shying away from the courage it takes to be vulnerable. It is having hard conversations and remaining respectful, open, and loving independent of others' behavior. It is making the hard moral and ethical decisions. It is being a safe place for the people around you. Strength is also giving yourself permission to not be strong (as necessary). Emotional strength is more a part of the virtue of strength to me than physical strength ever could be.

Strength may be defensive to protect those that are being abused or are disenfranchised. Again, this does not necessitate violence or physical force. It may be promoting a cause, spreading awareness, volunteering time, financing a good cause, adopting, being a journalist revealing dangerous truth, giving micro loans, or other creative ways to make a difference for those that need it.

Virtuous strength is doing what is right for yourself and others even when it's hard.

Justice

Justice is unequivocal fairness. Unfortunately fairness is subjective and so while that definition seems correct, fairness would vary from person to person or culture to culture so fairness has to be defined first. Many religions talk about justice being the balance between love and law, a beautiful definition as long as both can be considered perfectly, but that would require knowledge and wisdom. Justice could depend on knowledge and wisdom in order to be truly just but I think there is another possible definition that could work without them. Justice is being unequivocally fair according to one's best knowledge and wisdom. In this definition it's the true intention to be as fair as possible that counts although one's best effort includes acquiring knowledge and wisdom to make the most just decision as well. It's being unbiased and neutral in weighing distribution and consequence.

This is much harder than it sounds as virtuous justice is typically rejected outright and called heartless under many, maybe most, circumstances. People are rarely happy with what is truly just because they are biased. Allowing the same consequences to happen to a loved one as to a stranger is not seen as a virtue, it is more often called sociopathy or psychopathy. Virtuous justice is rarely met with understanding or appreciation in an unjust society as an unjust society esteems unjust practices as virtuous (e.i. giving preferential treatment to loved ones).

Wisdom

I lumped together knowledge and wisdom into one category but they are not the same, not at all. Knowledge is the breadth and depth of information that is acquired and understood. Wisdom is knowing how to use that knowledge to bring about the best results.

In the book Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, the book that started the environmental movement, she talks about the difference between knowledge and wisdom via the use of the chemical DDT and other extremely harmful chemicals that were used throughout the 1960's. DDT was used as a pesticide and inadvertently killed millions, perhaps even tens of millions, of non-insects including birds, fish, and large mammals (and some humans) while proving only temporarily effective against the insects they were meant to target. Wiser efforts included introducing predator insects or sterilized insects which was cheap and extremely effective, essentially eradicating the desired insect population to near extinction levels in the desired area. Knowledge led to the development of complex chemical compounds to kill undesirable insect populations. DDT, besides being more expensive than other methods, was also less effective with an extravagantly larger life toll, the use of which was brought upon by a lack of wisdom.

As evidenced by DDT and other historical blunders, knowledge without wisdom can be incredibly dangerous. For this reason I chose wisdom as the foremost virtue as opposed to knowledge although knowledge is extremely valuable. Plato taught that knowledge is the basis of all things, a statement that I agree with. There are a lot of types of knowledge which are defined by Google below.

Each type of knowledge is beneficial but being a walking encyclopedia is hardly virtuous, at least not in my mind. Knowledge only becomes a virtue when it is applied by wisdom. Perhaps that is because knowledge has no morality. Knowledge is neither good or bad but becomes either based on how it is used.

Wisdom is an interesting concept. For one, it can't be taught. Wisdom is acquired through a dedicated effort to develop it by means of reflecting and learning from experience and mistakes, learning from others including new ideas and ways of seeing things, and by putting what you learn into practice. Humility and patience are requirements of wisdom as in order to become wise you have to acknowledge the possibility of being wrong and be patient as you develop and grow (and learn just how wrong you really have been). Developing wisdom is not for the faint of heart, it is an arduous and demanding discipline and an extraordinarily humbling one.

I think the tradition of valuing elders stems from the wisdom that the older generation possesses. As wisdom cannot be taught but must be individually learned, life experience becomes much more valuable as a way to guide others to wisdom faster. That isn't to say that all older people are wise, many aren't, and that makes those that are wise that much more invaluable.

Wisdom is difficult to learn, cool... but we have yet to explain what it is. Definitionally wisdom is applied knowledge to reach a desired outcome, the knowledge of how to reach the best or optimal outcome, but the "best" or "optimal" outcome is subjective. The virtue of wisdom could be subjective, but to me wisdom as a virtue must have a defined foundational direction independent of subjectivity. What is universally in the best interest of everyone and everything that is incredibly difficult to master?

To me, wisdom is the knowledge of the art of harmony and the ability to effectively use it.

Harmony is the serving of everyone's best interest granted those interests aren't fucked up, sorry not sorry sociopaths and psychopaths. In a completely harmonious society all people are happy with the way things are going, something that is nearly inconceivable in the world we live in. Early Greek philosophers knew the value of harmony and Plato advocated for a philosopher king in his book The Republic for this reason, similar to King Solomon in the Bible or perhaps Marcus Aurelius and Saladin in confirmed history. Wise rulers are rarely found in history but when wisdom rules rather than power, people are much better off for it.

Another reason wisdom is difficult to learn is because it is an art. It requires artistry to know how to approach each unique and complicated situation and end it with a harmonious conclusion. It seems unfathomably difficult. It is likely for this reason that an entire discipline concerns itself with the pursuit of wisdom. As with most things in life, and even more so with wisdom, the benefit is well worth the cost.

Self-Control

This virtue really surprised me, although maybe it shouldn't have. I think part of why it surprised me is the perspective the world has about self-control. Self-control generally denotes a dominating and controlling of ourself and our instincts, subjugating the self to the force of our will. In essence, it's self-induced slavery; part of us needs to be chained up, overpowered, and forced to cooperate.

Here are some examples:

• Diets - Instead of lessening the amount of food eaten most people tend to do dramatic overhauls which deny them the food they'd prefer to eat.

• Working Out - I see people all the time who want to work on motivation to get to the gym. Maybe instead of forcing yourself to go to the gym find a physical activity that you like such as hot yoga, bicycling, rock climbing, kayaking, snowboarding, formal speed walking, etc. Or don't work out.

• Sexual Repression - Instead of acknowledging sexuality as a normal part of being human, it is denounced as bad, wrong, inappropriate, weird, etc.

• Authenticity - Instead of accepting and loving the non-normative aspects of oneself, people tend to suppress themselves in order to find social acceptance.

• Productivity - Instead of recognizing that we aren't machines, many people force their bodies into always being productive and feel shame when they rest and are "unproductive".

I could keep going. The point is that when we talk about self-control as a virtue, we are not talking about it in this way. We have bastardized the meaning of self-control in our society and we have done so by not understanding how self-control naturally comes about without requiring force. The virtue of self-control requires very little to no effort because it is a natural consequence of being a healed person.

The virtue of self-control in my analysis was comprised of moderation and abstinence (in some perspectives) which is better described as lust in my opinion. Moderation comes as a result of a balanced mind and a person who has the virtue of moderation does not need to intentionally limit their Coach purses to 10 at a time. A person who has the virtue of self-control when it comes to lust isn't sitting around being super horny trying to not use someone for their personal gratification. Aristotle defined virtue as a means between extremes, or in other words balance. When self-control is a virtue it is because self-control is effortless, it's an aspect of that person's character. Moderate, not lustful, and balanced is who they are.

I don't force myself to do things I don't want to do in my free time and I never have. Despite my refusal to force change I've found that I've changed a lot overtime, and quite rapidly I might add when I focused heavily on self-healing. Here are some of the unintentional consequences I've experienced as a result of my own healing:

1. Dietary Changes - My eating habits have steadily become healthier over time including not desiring to drink alcohol anymore (which is kind of sad honestly as I enjoyed it previously) and eating meat less. My consumption of fruits has increased a lot. I eat less overall. I drink water more. My appreciation of fast food has decreased.

2. Exercise - I have found types of exercise that I enjoy and that I look forward to doing.

3. Sexuality - I used to date to fill a void within myself which often resulted in tumultuous relationships and inappropriate situations with women. I don't do any of that anymore because I don't feel the need for a physical relationship at all now. My sexual attraction to women in general has decreased substantially instead finding sexual attraction in emotional connection rather than physical lust.

4. Cleanliness - I've gotten cleaner as I've healed more.

5. Laziness - I rarely procrastinate anymore.

6. Productivity - Nearly all of my time is spent learning or creating. Very little of it is spent in non-productive activities because I don't enjoy those activities anymore or find them meaningful. Watching shows and movies, social media, and video games has largely ceased to play a role in my life. I can be productive nearly non-stop but I take breaks when needed.

7. Improved Relationships - I've become much kinder and understanding in my relationships with myself and others.

8. Work - I've gotten better at my job. A surprising amount better.

9. Creativity - My creativity has really improved. Or been harnessed. Whichever.

I could probably list more but once again, the point has been made. My goal has never been self-control in a behavioral sense, it has always focused on emotional self-control, and my emotional maturation has resulted in the behavioral change that most people seek to attain through forced behavioral self-control. Emotions drive behavior. As a general rule changing emotions will always result in easier behavioral change.

Self-control as a virtue is a change in one's instinctive nature. Self-control increases because intentional control over oneself is not even necessary due to those harmful instincts not existing anymore. All spiritual leaders of high consequence such as Jesus, the Buddha, Mohammed, etc. as well as all major philosophers have all taught the importance of being. Being is the key. If you are patient you don't need to try to be patient. If you are kind you don't need to try to be kind. If you are humble you don't need to try to be humble. If you are in control of yourself you don't need to try and be in control of yourself. Organic and virtuous self-control follows as a consequence of who you are, not what you are trying to restrain from doing or forcing yourself to do.

Patience

As stated in the section on love, patience is the ability to be at peace brought upon by accepting reality as it is and not needing it to be any different. Needing reality to be different is what causes anger, irritation, or any variant of anger which is pointless because it doesn't change reality, it only results in wasted time and energy. Ironically, when people are impatient with other people or themselves it is actually more likely to make them slower than faster as stress inhibits the brain's functioning, not enhances it, and makes them (or yourself) less willing to do that thing in the future which basically ensures that it will go slower. Impatience really doesn't do a whole lot of good for yourself or others.

As someone who has struggled greatly in developing patience I can confidently say that it is a challenging trait to develop, but a very rewarding one. It's much better feeling happy and calm than angry. At least in my experience the key to developing patience is letting go of expectations. Things will take the time they need to. Instead of trying to make reality adjust to your expectations, maybe adjust your expectations to fit reality.

Perseverance is another key aspect of patience that needs mentioning. The ability to be patient through trial and tribulation for extended periods of time is patience exemplified. Perseverance is a bitch but good things take time, and often some painful healing.

Peace

I don't think peace needs much explanation as a general feeling or idea. Suffice to say, you can find peace in anything if you choose to; a difficult concept to wrap the head around in extreme scenarios but no less true. Peace is a choice.

There are a couple of things that I think are important to understand about peace that may not immediately come to mind though. First, there are different ways to be at peace. Peace can coexist with other emotions including sadness, boredom, pain, and others. Finding peace does not require things to be going swimmingly. Second, someone who is truly at peace has a resting state of joy although it may be punctuated by other emotions. Joy is a result of complete inner peace, or so I believe. Third, ultimate peace seems to be a final result of unconditionally loving the self and living authentically. Peace is attained by embodying your best self.

Peace within yourself allows that peace to be extended outwards. Inner peace leads to outer peace and harmony towards all living things. Someone who is at peace does not find joy in choosing war.

Virtue

As the topic reaches its conclusion, here is my short definition of each virtue:

1. Virtuous Truth: A commitment to accepting reality.

2. Virtuous Respect: Being honorable.

3. Virtuous Love: Harmony within the self.

4. Virtuous Faithfulness: The unconditional loving of the self.

5. Virtuous Humility: Radical acceptance of our shared humanity.

6. Virtuous Strength: Unyielding courage to do what's right.

7. Virtuous Justice: Unequivocal fairness.

8. Virtuous Wisdom: The knowledge of the art of harmony and the ability to effectively use it.

9. Virtuous Self-Control: Being balanced.

10. Virtuous Patience: The ability to be at peace by adjusting expectations to match reality.

11. Virtuous Peace: Embodying your best self.

I started this post with a preconceived definition of virtue that has been solidified in my writing. To me virtue is healed authenticity which results in what virtue actually means definitionally, moral excellence. A friend gave the definition of virtue being love, which I think is also correct as healed authenticity is all about opening yourself to love, primarily to loving yourself but also to others.

Virtue as love takes two forms: the unconditional love for the self and unconditional love for others. In many ways I think they are two sides of the same coin as they seem to be two paths to the same ultimate end.

Virtues are ideals, a bar to consistently strive to, and as ideals they are thought to be unattainable. In some regards I agree. It is extremely difficult, perhaps impossible, to fully reach the ideal of a virtue. That being said, I also disagree with the idea. I have experienced emotionally tangible benchmarks where I feel I've completed a chapter of progression towards virtue, a checkmark of a level of attainment. Theoretically, there has to be a finite number of things to work through considering life is finite, and, therefore, a limited about of benchmarks that can be achieved. Extremely difficult does not mean impossible.

Another thing that I've thought about is how to define whether or not someone, or myself, is virtuous. My conclusion is based in scientific levels of significance, .05 significance or 5%, but going in the opposite direction as normally used. Instead of going for significance in showing an impact of .05 or more, I'm referring to showing significance in a lack of deviance of .05 or less. Otherwise translated, virtue is embodiment to a clinically significant level which is 95% of the time or above. This is solely for the path of unconditionally loving yourself. For the path of unconditionally loving others, which I think is far more challenging (unconditionally loving one person = hard versus unconditionally loving many people = harder) I think being over 50% is more than sufficient. 51% and you've got it.

Obviously there is no standardized way to know whether or not you've reached virtuous levels, but there may be ways. First, these are the exact levels of love required for enlightenment given in the book The Ra Material. It is possible that enlightenment is a physical and spiritual benchmark based on the attainment of virtue. For now this is merely conceptual, but TBD. Second, outside feedback. If you are nearly universally regarded as having a specific virtue, it's something that I think you can reliably own. I don't typically recommend that anyone rely on outside feedback for their self-perception, but for this one I think an exception is warranted. I've found for myself that while I excel in self-awareness in certain areas, I am completely blind to others. Other people will be able to identify where you lack virtue in ways that you won't consciously recognize on your own.

As virtue and vice is a choice, I hope you choose virtue.

What everyone should think of themselves!